1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to mobile communication systems and, in particular, to a method and system to effectively backhaul data from microcells to backhaul cells and then to larger backstretch cells using frequency bands of a microcell frequency reuse plan.
2. Description of the Related Art
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.16-based systems, such as 802.16e WiMAX (Wireless Maximize) systems, have cells (hereinafter referred to as “microcells”) with relatively small cell radii. In wireless systems, such as a cellular-type application, a relatively large number of radio sites require connection to a larger terrestrial network, the connections may be wired or wireless. Backhaul connections can be used to connect the radio sites to the terrestrial network which requires substantial startup expense.
Various wireless approaches have been proposed to reduce startup costs associated with the transmission of backhaul traffic. A first approach multiplexes backhaul traffic from several radio sectors at a site and then use a much higher speed transmission from the site to backhaul the traffic to yet another site. The backhaul traffic requires additional multiplexing hardware, high bandwidth radios and a separate or dedicated frequency band. In a second approach the backhaul traffic from several sites is multiplexed to one master site using a frequency band wide enough to multiplex several sites worth of traffic. However, this type of approach may require a very fast Media Access Control (MAC) protocol.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method and system to effectively backhaul data from microcells to backhaul cells and then to larger backstretch cells using frequency bands of a microcell frequency reuse plan.